Sumo dates back 2,000 years but only became a professional sport
in the early Edo Period (1600~1868). It is also practised at community level in some
rural areas and in universities. Although some successful university
rikishi go on to professional sumo, usually they lag behind those
who entered a professional heya (stable, literally 'room') in their mid-teens. All unmarried
maezumo (apprentices) and rikishi (wrestlers) must live in their heya under the supervision
of their oyakata (stablemaster) and his wife, called the okamisan.
They live very much according to their rank, with the juniors
having to share rooms, get up and train earlier, perform all the
household chores and eat their traditional sumo meal of chanko-nabe
stew after the others have finished. The established heya are run by oyakata
who were top rikishi in their own day.

Makunouchi dohyoiri - during...

...and after

There are six divisions (see The Basho for
details of the ranking system) - four junior divisions who fight on only
7 of the 15 days of the basho (tournament) and two upper divisions, whose rikishi
earn the name sekitori, receive a salary from the Sumo Association and who fight on
each of the 15 days. Rikishi move up - or down - through the ranks
based only on their basho performance. In this sense, seniority
is no guarantee of high rank. In each of the junior divisions
and in the sekitori ranks the primary aim is the yusho or championship.
The yusho race usually boils down to the yokozuna (grand champions),
sanyaku (three ranks of champions) and the odd dark horse. If the yusho is
out of their grasp, the aim is to have at least a kachikoshi or 8-7
majority of wins to ensure promotion for the next basho. A
makekoshi losing record will ensure demotion, possibly to a lower division
on the banzuke, a list of all the rikishi and their ranking for the basho. The
only rikishi who cannot be demoted are the yokozuna. However,
if they can't keep up the high standards of their rank, they are
expected to retire.

Sekitori wear a colored silk mawashi (belt) in
basho, whereas a beige mawashi is used in training
or by junior rikishi. It is wrapped around the waist and groin
and knotted at the back. There is also a sagari or silk
string apron tucked into the front of the mawashi. The
sekitori wear colorful kesho-mawashi during dohyo-iri
(ring-entering) ceremonies. Also, only sekitori
can have their long hair oiled and tied in an oichomage (top knot).

There are two main styles of sumo - tsuppari or thrusting and
yotsu-zumo, which involves trying to control the opponent with the help
of a grip on his mawashi. Rikishi usually favor one style but
sometimes develop the ability to use both. Hawaiian-born Yokozuna
Musashimaru, for example,
had a remarkable record of consecutive kachikoshi
basho (52 as of the Kyushu basho, 1999) using the tsuppari attack
but seemed stuck at the second-highest ozeki rank. After
he developed more of a yotsu-zumo style he became
stronger still and gained promotion to yokozuna in May 1999. There
are officially 70 winning techniques but only about a dozen or
so are commonly seen. The most common include yorikiri
(force out), tsuridashi (lift out), uwatenage (outside
grip arm throw) and tsukidashi (thrust out). Some of the smaller
rikishi, such as Wakanohana and Mainoumi
in recent years, have to develop a serious repertoire of techniques
to make up for their lack of size.

The salaries that sekitori receive from the Sumo Association obviously
increase with rank. The monthly salary+allowance figures below
date from March 2001:

Yokozuna: ¥2,820,000

Ozeki: ¥2,350,000

Sanyaku: ¥1,700,000

Maegashira: ¥1,300,000

Juryo: ¥1,030,000

A yusho brings with it prize money varying from ¥100,000 at
the lower ranks to ¥10 million for a makuuchi championship.
There are also prizes awarded for such things as technique and
fighting spirit at the end of a basho. Sekitori also receive half
of the prize money offered by sponsors of certain bouts (¥60,000
per sponsor) if they win. They also usually have a support
group of fans, private and corporate, who are very generous with
gifts such as their expensive silk kesho-mawashi. Also, the heya
provide food and accomodation for the many single rikishi who
live there.